Hotel prices are shooting up to extreme highs as Americans flock to projected hotspots to view the upcoming solar eclipse on Monday.
Susan Hochman of New York City has been planning to travel to see the event for years, telling CBS News she is about to shell out $650 for just one night in a Best Western hotel upstate.
That Saranac Lake location is in the path of totality for the eclipse, the Adirondack Daily Times reports. While the village is only predicted to experience the totality for between three and four minutes, accommodations are still in high demand.
“I thought that was crazy,” Hochman said of the hotel’s prices, which are as low as just $99 in the less busy months. “I almost died at the $650 rate the Best Western quoted, but at least I can just stay there the one night that I need.”
She even booked the room way back in October 2023 to try to get ahead of the price surge, to no avail.
“As much as I had given it forethought, I didn’t plan as much in advance as I should have,” she said. According to her, the inflated lodging prices for the eclipse are “kooky crazy.”
The Saranac Waterfront Lodge is also a popular spot for eclipse fans, with rooms going for $700 a night with a two-night minimum.
The luxury resort also offers rooms with a lakeside view of the eclipse for as much as $2,400 — a price that drops to just $131 the next day.
According to a representative of the lodge, guests began booking rooms a year in advance.
The Hampton Inn in Carbondale, Illinois — also in the eclipse path — is completely sold out on Sunday and Monday nights.
“We’ve been sold out for months now,” the hotel told CBS.
Even Airbnbs are feeling the surge, with the platform saying there has been a 1,000 percent increase in queries for lodging within the roughly 115-mile-wide path of totality that stretches from Texas to Maine.
Data from the travel site Hopper viewed by CBS shows that airline tickets are up as well, with the average flight going to Dallas-Fort Worth on April 7 costing $1,900.
People reacting to the inflated prices took their confusion to social media to point out the absurd amount of money that’s being spent on the eclipse.
“Seriously what is going on with this eclipse drama? Niagara Falls is expecting over 1 million people.. there are local maps showing road closures in all cities. Hotel rooms are going for over $1k a night. There’s a band & fireworks the night of the eclipse,” one Canadian X user wrote. “Make it make sense.”
“All this eclipse coverage is so annoying omg because hotels and Air bnbs going for $4000 is wild,” said another X user from New York.
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